| 书目名称 | Ngaju Religion | | 副标题 | The Conception of Go | | 编辑 | Hans Schärer | | 视频video | | | 丛书名称 | Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde | | 图书封面 |  | | 出版日期 | Book 1963 | | 关键词 | English; English literature; Europe; Religion; Zurich; concept; dwelling; issue; knowledge; literature; living | | 版次 | 1 | | doi | https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-9346-7 | | isbn_softcover | 978-94-011-8579-0 | | isbn_ebook | 978-94-011-9346-7 | | copyright | Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 1963 |
| 1 |
Front Matter |
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Abstract
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| 2 |
,Introduction, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
The Ngaju Dayak, whose conception of God will be described in this work, constitute the largest people of south. Borneo. They live on the lower Barito, and also a part of the middle Barito, the Kapuas, and the Kahayan, with the exception of the headwaters. Various Ngaju colonies, formed about traders or minor officials who in the course of time have attracted many relatives to them, are found today scattered over the whole of the South and East Division of Borneo.
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| 3 |
,Sources for the Knowledge of the Ngaju Conception of God, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
An understanding of the nature of Ngaju religion and the doctrine of the conception of God is not to be gained from empirical life and thought, which give us only a superficial view; we must delve into the sources. So far this has not been done, and with the exception of a few chants from the mortuary feast (the .) recorded by Harde-land . there exist only a few fragmentary myths and legends, scattered over different journals.. The sacred literature is distinguished conceptually and verbally from the profane. As sources for a knowledge of the religion and the conception of God there exist the following, which we shall use in part in our work:
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| 4 |
,Names of the Supreme Deities, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
The Ngaju distinguish two supreme deities, which appear separately or as a unitary personality. There is no means of establishing that one deity existed earlier and that the other arrived later, that one is original (so that we have to do with a so-called “primeval monotheism”) while the other came in by foreign influence. The sources tell us that the two supreme deities have existed from the beginning. These two deities are distinct from each other, but each possesses various names. We have not merely to list these names, but also to investigate the problem of why this is the case and what meaning these various names possess.
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| 5 |
,The Dwelling Places of the Supreme Deities, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
Mahatala lives on the primeval mountain in the Upperworld, which is raised above the world inhabited by mankind Its entrance, in the shape of a wide river, is reached by ascending through forty-two layers of cloud, each with its own name. The Upperworld is a faithful image of this world, but everything there is richer and more beautiful. On the many rivers and lakes there live the .,descendants of two of the three brothers of the first human couple. These . come to the aid of the third brother, who was left below on earth, on the occasion of all important religious ceremonies, partly as servants, partly as delegates of Mahatala or of Mahatala and Jata. At the headwaters of the river of the Upperworld live the higher spirits, and on the primeval mountain, from which all rivers originate, Mahatala is enthroned, surrounded by his sister Putir Selong Tamanang (also known as Putir Sarin Garing) and the supreme spirits. There is no contradiction between this description and the statements above, for it is the unity of the supreme deity and the higher spirits which is emphasised in this representation. The priestly maps (see the illustrations) give us an exact representation of the Upperw
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| 6 |
,Natures and Manifestations of the Supreme Deities, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
Mahatala and Jata are two deities, distinct from each other, with their own habitations in the Upperworld and in the Underworld. They appear separately in numerous priestly ceremonies, and this also seems to be the case in the most important ritual, that in which the primeval act of creation is re-enacted. This event, so full of significance for the present, is introduced with the words: “When Ranying Mahatala Langit bends down from the Upperworld, and Tambon emerges from the primeval waters, then prosperity will be given to us.” But both deities appear precisely in these rites as one personal unity. The supreme deities form not only a duality, but they are also a unity, and this unity of the duality is prominent in all religious ceremonies. It is always the total divinity which is invoked and which takes an active part in events, either through its representatives or in person. This unity is shown very clearly in the creation myth. It is also demonstrated by the deities’ names. A distinction is made between the two names of the supreme deities, between the Hornbill (Upperworld) and the Watersnake (Underworld). But if both deities appear in a rite, then one speaks of Tambon haruei
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,The Act of Divine Creation, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
The creation of the cosmos is the work of the total/ambivalent godhead. Our account of it follows the Creation Myth. In its main outlines it goes as follows: .
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| 8 |
,The Divine Order, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
The descendants of the first men who sprang from the Tree of Life are the sacred people of the total godhead. They came into existence by its will, and this people is founded according to divine order. We can go a step further and say that the sacred people is the total godhead itself, and shows in its entirety and in its structure the nature and the ambivalence of the godhead. The sacred people is also the cosmos and thus exhibits the dualism of the cosmos. A description of the sacred people will show us this concordance everywhere, and also its roots in the conception of God.
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,Divine Justice, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
Man lives in a cosmos, created and ordered by the total godhead, in which every member has a significant place which he must occupy for the welfare of the whole and a special function which he must fulfill. The lives and conduct of mankind and of every member of the cosmos are determined by the commandments of the total godhead. We are primarily concerned here with mankind. It has already been said that for man there was never a place or time without .. He has everywhere and always been bound by the divine norms. In every act or event he must ask himself: “Is what I am doing or intend to do in accordance with . or not, am I acting according to prescribed order or am I overstepping the bounds set for me?” . rules the whole of life and thought, and all relations between man and the cosmos. It is the guide through life, and only if man constantly orients himself by it does he step surely and go through life as the true man who submits himself obediently to the godhead and carries out its will, and thus receive well-being for himself and for the entire cosmos.
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,Divine Gifts, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
We have seen that the total godhead possesses an ambivalent character. It is not only Upperworld but also Underworld, not only man but also woman, good and evil, beneficent and maleficent, it gives not only life but also death. The gifts of the godhead must show a corresponding ambivalence. They must not only be distinguished as gifts of the Upper-world and of the Underworld, but must also exhibit the characteristics of good and evil, fortune and misfortune, life and death. When we first consider the good gifts of the total (and the differentiated) godhead, it is this dualistic aspect which has first of all to be shown.
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,The Sacred Service, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
The sacred service is the re-enactment and dramatisation, in minor as well as in major particulars, of the primeval sacred events. All rites, the treatment of a sick person as well as the removal of misfortune, are linked to this re-enactment and find their rationale in it. These rites assume their most perfect and comprehensive form when the whole cosmos is ruined and the creation must be re-enacted not only in part (or individually) but completely. This is the case after the elapse of a world-era, after a grave sin, or after the death of a freeman. We shall choose the mortuary feast (.) for our description of the sacred service among the Dayak, refraining from describing the lesser religious ceremonies by which man, in order to receive new life and well-being, is continually brought into relation with the primeval sacred events.
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,The Sacred Dead, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
The total community comprises not only the living but also the dead, i.e. members of the community who have left this world for ever and now dwell in the community of the ancestors in the village of the dead (.). Both worlds belong together, and the dead take part in all important events, which have to be ceremonially announced to them.. The village of the dead differs from those on the “river of the world” only in that it is bigger, richer, and more splendid. The houses are magnificently built, the thoroughfares are set with gold and jewels, the trees bear perpetual fruit. Neither is life there very different from that on earth, except that it is less toilsome, offers more pleasures, and lasts for ever, since the dead have returned to their origin, to their eternal and true home from which they had descended to earth only to dwell there for a while as guests. The world of the dead exhibits the same social structure as that of the living. The same distinctions are made between superior and inferior, free and slave, the good and the bad.
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| 13 |
,The Essence of Dayak Religion, |
Hans Schärer |
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Abstract
In concluding our investigation and our description of the Ngaju conception of God, we have yet to examine the essence of Dayak religion, but without consideration of its origin. We shall attempt to follow the lines of the literature and the ceremonies, and from them to extract the essence of the religion.
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| 14 |
Back Matter |
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Abstract
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发表于 2025-3-21 19:05:29
